57. Arcady: The Dragonstone Tree

Arcady awakens drugged and bound at the dragonstone tree, her bond to Everen painfully constrained. Magnes approaches, taunting her and revealing he dosed her with more Elixir. He admits he hid among humans for centuries as Monarch Laen’s consorts—Genat Lant, Orden Isan, and Nortlyn Ildred—while Arcady glimpses Barrow Eremia in the scrysilver pool.

Magnes recounts returning to Loc after the Schism and finding Barrow as his ally. He says Barrow deduced pieces of the Veil and that together they envisioned healing the Dreamer to rebalance magic. Magnes shifts blame onto Barrow for the disastrous ritual twelve years ago, insisting a human’s weakness broke the spell, stoking Arcady’s doubts about Everen and her family.

Edin Vayne brings in two hooded, enthralled figures: Chancellors Carym of Redwing and Ketrel of Stormfell. Framing the act as revenge for Laen and a lesson for Arcady, Magnes slits their throats. As they die, streams of starlit magic rise from their seals; Magnes draws the power into himself with rapture, further fortifying his control.

As Arcady realizes how isolated she is—Everen slumped, Sorin bespelled, her own magic locked by Magnes—he declares that all rules and spells can be built upon or broken. Proclaiming his intent to shatter them, Magnes caresses Arcady’s face and commands her to sleep, leaving her unconscious as his plan advances.